What Is Cardenism? Origins And History Of The Movement
The history of humanity and how it has structured its society is complex and turbulent. Throughout history there have been many revolutions and socio-political movements that have been generated to change society, often when situations of great social unrest, famine, and perception of inequality among citizens occur in a widespread manner. The clearest and best-known example of this is the French Revolution.
However, it is not the only one, nor is Europe the only continent where they have occurred. And another example, this time in Mexican lands, can be found in the political movement known as cardenismo which we are going to talk about throughout this article.
Cardenismo is called a political movement that occurred in Mexico throughout the 1930s, and that It owes its name to its main promoter, President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río This political movement occurred in a time of great conflict, after a revolution of the peasantry, and is characterized by the search for an improvement in the situation of peasants and other working classes.
It is defined as a socialist movement that, although initially it had little acceptance by the groups it intended to favor, over time ended up generating important socioeconomic changes to the point of being considered one of the political periods that have generated the most changes in the situation of the country.
A little history: the origins of this movement
To understand what Cardenismo is and how it arises, it is first necessary to take into account the situation from which it begins. The origins of this political movement are found in the coming to power of Porfirio Díaz under the promise of establishing a democracy and his subsequent permanence in office, becoming a dictator and remaining in power by force of arms and the support of a privileged circle.
As the years went by, the population, and especially the worker and peasant sectors, began to suffer serious repercussions, with no protection for the working classes but poverty and great differences. Movements against the regime began to emerge, as well as multiple conflicts and armed struggles in which leaders such as Madero and Zapata participated. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 arose, which arose to overthrow the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz
After the deposition and flight of the dictator, the new leader and organizer of much of the Revolution, Madero, began to make great changes. However, he was assassinated in 1913, which returned the country to a situation of great social tension, political struggles and inequalities. The Cristero War also occurred shortly after, an armed conflict in protest of the policies exercised by President Obregón and that of his successor Plutarco Elías Calles.
Calles was a soldier who defended the need to end political tension through weapons and sought to further empower the army, with a vision contrary to the working class. In addition, At this time the effects of the Great Depression would be seen something that left the Mexican people as a whole in a precarious situation.
In 1933, with the elections a year away, two major conflicting positions appeared: the traditional and military one of Calles or another much more focused on workers, which sought democratic regeneration and was led by Lázaro. Cardenas. During the 1934 elections it was this second who would win, something that would make Cárdenas president and begin Cardenism.
Cárdenas would propose in order to reduce the high social conflict renew political life and return to an ideal of democracy , as well as fighting for the rights of the different social classes and groups and trying to reduce social differences and the abuses of large landowners and businessmen. Likewise, the Mexican president was open to relations with other countries and welcomed a large number of immigrants fleeing conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War.
Main political reforms
There were multiple changes that Cardenismo sought to make in order to improve the situation of the country and recover sociopolitical stability, some of which were very controversial at the time.
The first of them is linked to a profound reform at the agrarian level, which sought to distribute the land among workers and peasants and reduce the power of the large landowners. The aim was to promote the development and cultivation of land, smooth out social differences and transform the social fabric.
Associations such as the National Peasant Confederation and the Mexican Workers Confederation were formed, and the power and role of unions and strikes were promoted In this sense, laws were also proposed in which
Educational policies also emerged to improve the education of the working classes, seeking to offer training with a progressive and socialist orientation that also sought to reduce religious fanaticism as well as train qualified professionals. Introduced free, secular and compulsory education up to fifteen and generated an increase in literacy in rural areas.
Another of the best-known moments of the Cardenista period is the expropriation of oil fields and companies , something that was intended to regain control of these resources for the country itself but which in turn was a great source of conflict and discomfort for the business owners who owned the companies. The railway industry was also nationalized.
End of Cardenism
Despite the changes in social policies introduced by Cardenismo, the truth is that this political movement faced numerous difficulties that led to its fall.
To begin with, your various policies in pursuit of the search for equality and education of the people although they generated an improvement in literacy, they could not be fully applied due to the entrenchment of social differences as well as the risks and lack of preparation that teachers had in an environment that was often hostile to them.
Policies such as the nationalization of oil, which led to international unrest, and the high level of spending during the implementation of a country that at that time did not have excessively favorable economic conditions (in addition, it must be taken into account that the world still felt the effects of the Great Depression) made that a deep economic crisis appeared
In addition to this, some sectors of society considered that the Cárdenas regime betrayed the spirit of the Revolution, in addition to resorting to populism and allowing itself to be influenced by the influence of foreign countries and their political systems. Cardenismo was accused of being both fascist and communist (especially the latter), something that, together with the previous elements mentioned, diminished its popularity.
Likewise, the former landowners and businessmen saw the social and economic reforms as something threatening and many citizens began to see the established policies of change as excessively radical.
Some mutinies and revolts appeared, such as Saturnino Cedillo, which led to various deaths, and fear of the emergence of a new civil war began to appear. All this caused that over time the voices of discontent were increasing, and the opposition (initially very divided) was gaining prestige.
The last years of the 1940s were turbulent, with Cardenism passing into a more moderate phase due to great social tensions and beginning to prepare the electoral campaigns for 1940. President Cárdenas intended to generate free elections, one of the objectives being of Cardenismo that of trying to revitalize the ideal of democracy.
However, during these there were numerous accusations of corruption and manipulation. Cardenism came to an end in these elections, with the leader of the newly reformulated Party of the Mexican Revolution Manuel Ávila Camacho obtaining the presidency.
